Poll

Today's Sports

In the first boys’ Litkenhous Ratings of the season that were released earlier this week, Henry County High School’s basketball team is ranked 11th in the 8th Region while Eminence High School is ranked 16th.

The Litkenhous is a computerized power ranking of each high school team in Kentucky based on a formula that includes record, strength of schedule and margin of victory. Games against out-of-state opponents are not included in the ratings.

The Eminence boys’ basketball team lost its final two games of the Gallatin Steel Invitational Monday and Tuesday to leave the invitational at 0-4 and 1-8 overall.

The Warriors, whose one win this season was against Kentucky School for the Deaf in their opener Dec. 2, lost to Gallatin County (80-32) last Saturday, Meade County (69-43) last Sunday, Ludlow (59-47) last Monday and Spencer County (52-44) last Tuesday. Since the opening win, the Warriors have now dropped eight straight.

Individually, the Eminence Lady Warriors are getting better, coach Carter Martin said after his team took a 28-24 loss to Silver Grove last Monday and a 41-22 loss to Dayton Tuesday to close out the Grant County Invitational.

But as a team, they are still searching for their first win since winning their opener against Louisville Collegiate on Dec. 5. They have now dropped eight straight for a 1-8 start, including four games in the Gallatin Invitational.

“We are getting better, and as long as we keep learning things every game I’m happy,” Martin said.

While the rest of the sports world continued to make headlines daily with new contract extensions, championship events, wire-to-wire moments and jaw-dropping scandals, here in Henry County we celebrated our own success and also had our own setbacks.

We raised our hands in triumph. We lowered our heads in defeat. There were firsts. There were lasts. And in the end, there was plenty to smile about.

In a 30-hour stretch Friday and Saturday, the Henry County boys’ basketball team was a perfect three of three in the Richmond Model Holiday Classic to win the tournament championship, then turned around the following day to open the Sayre Tournament with another win, which left the Wildcats at 9-2 overall and riding a seven-game winning streak heading into this week.

For the second consecutive game, the Henry County girls’ basketball team built a big lead, watched it dwindle in the closing minutes and held on down the stretch for the win.

This time around, the Ladycats were able to hold off fast-charging Owen County, 50-48, Friday night to win their first district game of the season. It came on the heels of a 41-37 win over North Oldham that followed the same storyline with Henry clinging to a late lead. The two wins left Henry at 3-3 overall and 1-1 in district play.

The Henry County Middle School boys’ seventh-grade basketball team finished second place in the North Central Kentucky Conference Tournament on Dec. 13, defeating both Trimble County (46-24) and Carroll County (32-29) to advance to the championship game but losing to Walton-Verona (42-23) in the finals.

The entire tournament was played in a single day at Carroll County Middle School, with the Cats playing their first two games back-to-back, resting one game, then playing for the title.

Chris Engstrand and the East All-Stars were in position to win the annual Greater Louisville Football Coaches Association All-Star Game at Holy Cross High School Saturday, but the East squad threw an ill-timed interception late in the fourth quarter and ran out of time as they took a slim 20-14 loss to the West.

Playing through some setbacks, the Eminence boys’ basketball team dropped its first two games at the Gallatin Steel Invitational over the weekend, and played two more games Monday and Tuesday to close out the four-day stretch in the annual invitational.

The Warriors lost to Gallatin (80-32) Saturday and to Meade County (69-43) Sunday. They then played Ludlow on Monday and closed out the invitational with another opponent on Tuesday — which had not been determined as of Monday afternoon.

With just three seconds on the clock in Thursday night’s thriller between the host Henry County Wildcats and Owen County, Steven Tillett took a pass from Brad Taylor and sank a 20-footer to put the Cats ahead for good, 53-51.

In a district showdown that came down to the final seconds, Henry was able to come away with the slim win to improve to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in district play. Meanwhile, Owen dropped to 2-3, 0-2.